Parco Naturale Regionale di Montemarcello-Magra
Just a 15-minute drive south of Lerici, the Montemarcello-Magra Regional Nature Park protects a dramatic limestone headland of Mediterranean macchia, ancient mule tracks and cliff-edge viewpoints that look simultaneously over the Ligurian Sea and the mouth of the Magra River. It is the natural counterweight to the town's busy harbour — wild, quiet and strikingly beautiful.
The walk to Montemarcello village
The hilltop village of Montemarcello sits at 300 metres above sea level and is reached by a well-marked trail from the coastal hamlet of Tellaro — itself one of the most photogenic fishing villages in Liguria, clinging to orange-and-ochre cliffs directly above the sea. The trail climbs through dense maquis of rosemary, cistus and wild lavender and takes about 90 minutes at a steady pace.
At the top, Montemarcello is a perfectly preserved medieval borgo of stone lanes and flower-draped archways with a population of only a few hundred. The main belvedere at the village edge looks south over the Versilia coast and on clear days as far as the marble-white peaks above Carrara.
Tellaro: the unmissable detour
Before or after the hike, spend an hour in Tellaro itself — consistently voted one of the most beautiful villages in Italy and almost surreally picturesque with its cluster of painted houses stacked above a tiny harbour. The village church of San Giorgio sits on a rock directly above the sea and is connected to the shore by a narrow bridge.
Legend has it that a giant octopus once saved the village from a Saracen raid by ringing the church bell with its tentacles — a story the locals tell with a completely straight face. Eat lunch at the simple trattoria by the harbour, order whatever fish they caught that morning, and consider yourself extraordinarily lucky to have found this place.
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